Op-Ed: Why are Christians funding Israel’s anti-Zionist fringe?

A Palestinian man walks in front of a mural calling for the return of Palestinian refugees on May 14, 2011 in Rafah in southern Gaza during a gathering to mark the 63th anniversary of what Palestinians call the Nakba, or the “catastrophe” of Israel’s founding. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash 90)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The State of Israel is celebrating its 66th birthday. For Israelis, Jews around the world and all supporters of Israel, this is a joyous occasion. By and large, even Israelis who are critical of some of their country’s policies nevertheless celebrate its remarkable accomplishments and contributions to the world.

Amid these celebrations, there is a minuscule group of Jewish Israelis who support Palestinian rejectionist ideology and identify with the “Nakba” (Arabic for “catastrophe”) narrative. The importance of this unrepresentative fringe is inflated far beyond its numbers due to support from some powerful Christian institutions, including Catholic frameworks.

For example, Zochrot (Hebrew for “remembrance”) is an Israeli NGO whose activities are made possible in large part through the support of European church aid agencies. It aims to “raise public awareness of the Palestinian Nakba” and to “recogniz[e] and materializ[e] the right of return.” In this way, Zochrot is overtly political, promoting a radical vision for the Middle East that does not include the right of the Jewish people to sovereign equality.

Zochrot supports the “one-state” framework and implementation of the Palestinian demand for a “right of return” of the millions of people who claim to be descendants of Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war. This directly contradicts the “two states for two peoples” formula supported by the international community, including the government funders of the church aid agencies that serve as Zochrot’s benefactors.

In this vision, Israel would become a bi-national entity with an Arab majority. Or as explained by Zochrot founder Eitan Bronstein, “When the refugees return, Jews will become a minority in the country. Israel as a Jewish state will change radically, and it will no longer be defined as such.” In this scenario, Jews would return to the pre-1948 predicament of everywhere being minorities, vulnerable to the whims of sometimes-hostile majorities.

Funding for Zochrot’s radical campaigns and agenda comes from powerful European Catholic and Protestant aid framework such as Broederlijk Delen (Belgium), HEKS (Switzerland), Finn Church Aid (Finland), MISEREOR (Germany), CCFD (France), ICCO (Netherlands), Christian Aid (UK), and Trocaire (Ireland). These organizations are funded by European governments that officially support the two-state solution. Zochrot’s activities, then, undermine these governments’ own policies.

For instance, Broederlijk Delen is a Flemish Catholic “development and peace” NGO. With a massive budget provided in part by the Belgian government, it funds many highly politicized NGOs active in the Arab-Israeli conflict, including Zochrot. In 2012, Broederlijk Delen gave 50,000 Euros to Zochrot, out of which 40,000 Euros originated with Belgian taxpayers.

This funding enables many of Zochrot’s activities. For example, the heads of this fringe group joined a 2012 trip to South Africa, sponsored by HEKS, in order “to learn from cases of expulsion and return.” Afterward, Zochrot co-published “The Cape Town Document,” which states, “It is our hope that the new political structure created in de-Zionized Palestine will be that of a single democratic state.”

More recently, in September 2013, Zochrot held a conference called “From Truth to Redress: Realizing the Return of Palestinian Refugees” to further spread its agenda of Israel’s disappearance. At the time, Zochrot’s funders sought to justify their support under the guise of promoting refugee rights and justice, reflecting a lack of due diligence and serious engagement by the funders.

It is startling that so many Christian groups fund an NGO that openly rejects Israel’s existence, the single most important manifestation of Jewish empowerment and self-determination in the world today. Such activities are clearly not conducive to Jewish-Christian reconciliation or to finding a realistic solution to the conflict. Instead, they echo the tortured history of Jewish persecution and marginalization in European Christian societies and the extreme demands of radical groups.

In a few weeks, Israel will welcome Pope Francis, who has long demonstrated his close ties with the Jewish people. It is hoped that he will send a powerful message of true peace by stating firmly and without equivocation that the vision of a world without Israel clearly contradicts church teachings. This is a message that the officials of powerful Catholic aid agencies who channel money to groups that demonize Israel will need to internalize.

Comments

Just a few short years after the Holocaust Israel "ethnically cleansed" 800,000 Palestinians (including over 200,000 Christians) from Israel using massacres of whole villages by its terrorist groups Irgun, Hagannah and Stern Gang. It has always amazed me that the Israelis could do this to another people so soon after the Holocaust, but it does show something rather nasty about Israelis. Google the "Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine" by Israeli historian Ilan Pappe or google "plan dalet" for more information.

"The mass evacuation, prompted partly by fear, partly by orders of Arab leaders, left the Arab quarter of Haifa a ghost city. More than pride and defiance was behind the Arab orders. By withdrawing Arab workers, their leaders hoped to paralyze Haifa. Jewish leaders said wishfully: "They'll be back in a few days. Already some are returning."

John Bagot Glubb ("Glubb Pasha"), the commander of Jordan's Arab Legion, was quoted in the London Daily Mail of August 12, 1948. as admitting,
"Villages were frequently abandoned even before they were threatened by the progress of war"

Monsignor George Hakim, Greek Orthodox Catholic Bishop of Galilee, was quoted in the Beirut newspaper, Sada al-Janub of August 16, 1948 as saying:
"The refugees were confident their absence would not last long, and that they would return within a week or two.

Their leaders had promised them that the Arab Armies would crush the 'Zionist gangs' very quickly and that there was no need for panic or fear of a long exile."

A report by Habib Issa in the Lebanese newspaper, Al Hoda of June 8, 1951, stated:

"The Secretary-General of the Arab League, Azzam Pasha, assured the Arab peoples that the occupation of Palestine and Tel Aviv would be as simple as a military promenade. He pointed out that they were already on the frontiers and that all the millions the Jews had spent on land and economic development would be easy booty, for it would be a simple matter to throw Jews into the Mediterranean.

“Brotherly advice was given to the Arabs of Palestine to leave their land, homes and property and to stay temporarily in neighboring fraternal states, lest the guns of the invading Arab armies mow them down."

in the words of Benny Morris

The demonisation of Israel is largely based on lies - much as the demonisation of the Jews during the past 2,000 years has been based on lies. And there is a connection between the two.

I would recommend that the likes of Norris and Landy read some history books and become acquainted with the facts, not recycle shopworn Arab propaganda. They might then learn, for example, that the "Palestine War" of 1948 (the "War of Independence," as Israelis call it) began in November 1947, not in May 1948. By May 14th close to 2,000 Israelis had died - of the 5,800 dead suffered by Israel in the whole war (ie almost 1 per cent of the Jewish population of Palestine/Israel, which was about 650,000). - Yours, etc,

Ilan pape is a discrédited scholar. He is thé last person one should read tout know about thé israel-arab conflict.

700k arabs left israel between 1947and 1949 but 900k jews left or were expelled from muslim countries throughout the 40s 50s and 60s. This was an exchange of population like many others that happenned after WW2 (poles/germans, turks/greeks, etc)

Gregory Aharfi - Ilan Pape is viewed by the world as the imminent scholar on the Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. Israel's propaganda has always tried to make it seem like all the Palestinians left on their own which is the Big Lie. Read about "Plan Dalet" to see how diabolically Israel planned the ethnic cleansing. Ilan Pappe does not live in Israel any longer due to constant death threats for telling the truth.

Robert Annable : Pappé is insane and a discredited "scholar". He made up the "Al-Tantura massacre", his books are filled with errors and lies and no serious scholar listen to him (only antisemites like you).

Just look at who supports him (phonies and antisemites) and who criticizes him (real schollars) :

From wikipedia :

Ilan Pappé's books have been praised by Walid Khalidi, Richard Falk, Ella Shohat, Nur Masalha and John Pilger among others.[27]

Those critical of his work include Benny Morris,[28][29] Efraim Karsh,[30][31][32][33] Herbert London and Steven Plaut,[34] as well as Professors Daniel Gutwein[35] and Yossi Ben-Artzi[36] from Haifa University.

It's those who would turn to Israeli Theocracy and away from democracy that are the outcasts internationally. Two states for two peoples is nothing but a Pandora's box of trouble. Those who worry that Israel won't retain a Jewish character if Jews are a minority are the real anti-semites. America is still White man's paradise despite the fact that in many parts Whites are a minority.

Is Jewish culture so frail and vulerable that it needs to be protected by a bigoted policy that makes it a theocracy like Saudi Arabia? Or, do Jews stand for something greater than an antiquated, and racist tome written 3000 years ago? "God of the Jews," if there's a God, it's clearly the god of us all. That's why the Golden Rule, approximated civically with "democracy" and "equal rights for all" is what our creator hath shown us. Love your neighbor as yourself, covet not his farm, water, nor wife...